Alexander Isak looked miffed as he walked off the Etihad Stadium pitch on an afternoon in which he was starved of any decent service. On a day in which he gestured to his team-mates over an all-round lack of quality and work-rate, his frustration was understandable. And even Alan Shearer understood why the Toon star looked so annoyed for much of the game at the Etihad.
By the end, he’d had just 23 touches and managed one shot on the day with balls into the box a rarity against Man City. The day had been dubbed the battle of the Premier League hotshots with Erling Haaland and the Sweden star set for top-flight tussle but neither made it on to the scoresheet.
Although, the Norwegian ace, despite an injury, was the happier of the two stars as he skippered Man City to a big win that puts them in the driving seat for the Champions League race. Isak left the field on 90 minutes after failing to add to his 19 goals this season and now finds himself on a four-match barren run.
But this wasn’t an Isak problem, as Callum Wilson found out when sent on with 18 minutes left. Incredibly, during that stint, plus stoppage time Wilson was afforded just two touches in total and like Isak starved of any real service. This was easily one of Newcastle’s worst offensive performances of the season as both Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon would both discover.
After the game Eddie Howe said: “It was painful to watch from the sideline. We were a yard off where we needed to be, and we seemed to be reactive. We allowed their good technical players too much space. “They do have very good technical players, and I know a lot has been made of their run, but for me, with the ball, they’re still the best team in the Premier League.
“We’ve had some difficult games here but weren’t competitive enough. We weren’t in their face enough, and when you come up 50-50 against any direct opponent, we were losing too many of those battles. Ultimately, too many of those things cost you matches.”
Shearer had posted on X at half-time: “Lost every challenge. A pathetic 45 mins from Newcastle.” But he would later point to the lack of service for Isak.
And he empathised with the Sweden striker by saying: “Have a look at the space that Newcastle allowed. Watch Isak, his arms are up in the air then his head goes down as if to say: ‘Goodness me is that all you can give?’ It was so easy for City, nobody in or around them and they had so much space.”
As Isak left the field in his bench jacket he spoke to nobody on a day in which he could argue he’d been completely isolated up top.
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